Page 182 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Sabre swallowed. “What did she say?”

“That you were nice to her.” Bay shrugged. “That you listened. That you believed her when nobody else did.”

Sabre’s chest tightened with pain.

Bay looked down at her hands. “She made me memorize your name when we were very little. Hannah said if anything ever went wrong and we got separated, I had to find Attorney Sabre Brown.”

For a moment Sabre couldn’t speak. Hannah had carried her name for eight years.

Bay gave a small shrug. “She really thought you’d save us someday.”

“I plan to do that right now.” The room went quiet. Finally, Sabre asked, “How did you end up with him?”

Bay looked at the cinderblock wall for several long seconds before answering. “My mom met him around the same time Hannah showed up. He came around acting helpful.” Bay shrugged faintly. “He fixed things. He brought groceries sometimes. He even paid bills when my mom blew all her money.”

“Using the name David Rainer?”

Bay shook her head. “He said it was Daniel Rourke. I know because Hannah and I talked about everything we could to help us remember stuff.”

So, he wasn’t in hiding yet. “And Hannah?”

Bay rubbed her hands together nervously. “One night he brought her home. He said she was his niece.”

Sabre felt her stomach tighten. “Was she scared?”

Bay nodded. “Yeah. Quiet too.” Another pause. “But he was really careful with her, like she might break. He told my mom Hannah’s parents were messed up and social workers were trying to take her away from family. He hung that over us for years.” Bay gave a shrug. “My mom believed him.”

“What happened after that?”

“My mom got worse,” Bay explained. “She was using drugs, cheating on Daniel, disappearing with other men. She’d leave for days sometimes.” Bay looked down at the table. “Me and Hannah mostly stayed with him by then anyway.”

Of course she did. A pretty little blonde girl with a frightened expression and a convincing story about bad parents would not seem unusual in the world Bay’s mother lived in.

“And Daniel stuck around?”

“I think he stayed because of us girls. He knew my mom wasn’t taking care of us. But she always took care of her car. She loved that car more than anything.” A frown crossed her face. “We didn’t have money for rent half the time, but she’d still wash that thing in the parking lot.”

“What made the car so special?”

“It was pretty and yellow. My mom loved yellow.”

“Was it a 1966 Mustang?”

“How’d you know?”

Sabre smiled. “Like Hannah said, I’m smart. Did Daniel ever drive it?”

“When his car got wrecked.” Bay shrugged. “For a couple weeks.”

Exactly long enough.

Bay stared down at her hands again. “One day my mom left and never came back.”

Sabre scowled. “She abandoned you?”

Bay suddenly looked older than she was. “She did that before.” A pause. “Just never that long.”

“How long did you wait?”